The effects of sugar and sugar-free energy drinks on simple and choice reaction time

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The aim of the present study was to determine differences in reaction time resulting from the ingestion of three caffeine containing beverages. Six low-caffeine consuming college students (25.2 + 7.0 years) were recruited to participate in this study. The participants were tested for simple and choice reaction time prior to consuming Red Bull Energy Drink, Sugar-free Energy Drink, Mountain Dew soft drink or no drink and 60 minutes following the consumption of the product. Participants participated in all four conditions and were tested over a two week period with at least 48 hours between sessions. The order of drink administration was randomly selected for each subject. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in choice reaction time for the Red Bull and Sugar-free Red Bull conditions, with no significant differences witnessed in the simple reaction time test. An improvement of 321.0 to 302.9 milliseconds and 335.4 to 303.0 milliseconds were found for Red Bull and Sugar-free Red Bull, respectively. The Mountain Dew soft drink (325.4 to 319.0 milliseconds) and the no drink condition (315.8 to 312.03) showed no significant improvements. These results suggest that caffeine and taurine have some combined effect on improvement of reaction time or high levels of glucose negatively affect the cognitive improvements of caffeine in non-fasted individuals. Further research is warranted to determine the exact interaction between caffeine, glucose and taurine.